Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Dyslexic Chinese Students: A Systematic Literature Review Method for Building an Effective Learning Environment

Studies show that dyslexia has been a severe issue for Chinese students. Additionally, learning English as a foreign language has also been affected because of the different orthographic systems and imbalance in the L1-L2 processing interface. Although there has been a growing field in inclusive education, studies on dyslexia-specific pedagogies for Chinese learners remain limited. This study conducts a systematic literature review of the existing literature from 2000 to 2025 on teaching English to Chinese dyslexic students, focusing on effective strategies, tools, and accommodations relevant to the Chinese context. The study employed the PRISMA 2020 framework to evaluate peer-reviewed articles and identify advancements in the field of language disorders over the last 25 years. The study tended to provide evidence-based recommendations for building an effective English teaching design. The findings suggest that strategies like multisensory training for children, class-based systematic training, and using a spiral approach can support and enhance the learning of English. Thus, the study has implications for future studies in the fields of psycholinguistics, cognitive science, second language acquisition, and language disorders.